Jenn, I mailed off the meds but as mentioned in my PM, I marked on the outside of the box that it contained thumb tacks and office supplies so it doesn't get held up at the border. (unfortunately we have to list everything inside a parcel that is leaving Canada and entering the U.S.) I was trying to think of something that sounded like pills rattling in a bottle in case Customs decided to shake the box and thumbtacks were what I came up with. Anyway, just in case the box gets opened at Customs, I decided to actually put a package of thumbtacks and a pen in there and labeled the contents as 'office supplies' so it's not a complete lie. LOL
I once mailed some acetaminophen with .08mg of codeine that is sold here in B.C. without a prescription to an elderly woman who is a family friend living in Seattle and marked the outside of the parcel 'vitamins' and Customs opened it and confiscated it and sent me a warning letter.
So....enjoy the thumbtacks and pen! LOL
I agree, I would not give Ally to an older person. Our cat George who was once feral was previously adopted out to an older lady and he shredded her to pieces. Her arms were all scraped up and by the end of 6 months she was so terrified of him that she would actually run into another room to hide when he walked in to the room. It has taken lots of patience to get George to mellow out and he has to a certain degree but he reminds us every now and then (once or twice a week) that he still has his feral side by occasionally slashing and biting us. My husband does kind of act like the Alpha male with him by rolling him on his back and rough housing with him a bit. George seems to like it but you can see that he thinks that my husband is dominant over him. He reserves most of the biting for me, the docile food lady.
The description of Ally lashing out at the other cats and even another person when a cat entered the room that she didn't approve of also really reminded me of my other cat Stinky. For the most part she manages to 'tolerate' the other 'intruders' (as I'm sure she considers them) but sometimes out of nowhere she just launches herself on one of them or all of them and it makes me so mad because Jimmy is so gentle and sweet and the next thing he knows he's got Stinky pummeling him for absolutely no reason except that he made the horrible mistake of walking by her. Thankfully it has not resulted in any abscesses but she can get quite nasty. There have been times when she is visibly angry with the other cats and if I try to even pet her she takes a swipe at me with claws out and hisses viciously at me. I know if I tried to pick her up she would shred me.
When I first put her in our outdoor cat enclosure she turned into a wild animal. I didn't even recognize her. She was so freaked out by the 'new' surroundings and the fact that the 'others' were in the enclosure with her that I couldn't go near her for 7 hours. I wanted to get her out of there because she was so obviously upset but when I came within 3 feet of her she was absolutely wild, ears back, hissing, open mouth breathing. Finally after 7 hours she sort of let me handle her to get her into a cage to bring her back in the house and then she was fairly nasty towards me for about a week before she finally forgave me.
I know she would prefer to be an only cat even though she has never been an only cat. During those times when her Herpes virus flares up and she is sniffly and not well, we keep her with us in our room for up to two weeks without contact with the other cats until she is over it to make sure none of the other cats contracts it. The transformation of Stinky's personality during those times is so incredible and dramatic. When it's just me, my husband and Stinky, she turns into the softest, sweetest marshmellowy cat you've ever seen. The 'darker' side of her never makes an appearance until of course we re-introduce the 'others' back with her and then the old pattern continues.
I know this situation in no way compares to Ally because her aggressiveness sounds like it is much worse but it does make me think that down the road, maybe a couple or a single person (who aren't/isn't old) who don't have another cat or dog in the house might be able to provide Ally with a home where she could be Queen.
When I read Ally's Bio that Karen posted in Cat General today I was so surprised to read about the other side of Ally where she casually lounged on top of the computer monitor and played with fuzzy balls that she 'hunted' and seemed to enjoy her family. It was sad to read because she is so obviously different right now but it was also hopeful because the 'old' Ally is in there somewhere and hopefully a wonderful future is waiting for her. Miracles happen and I'm going to keep praying.
p.s. I wanted to buy some fuzzy balls for Ally and include them in the package but I didn't want to delay sending it off any longer so unfortunately I didn't pick any up.
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